Traditional chairs tend to be of a solid, dense mass. Although this solid, dense mass allows for support of the occupant, it does not allow for air circulation between the chair and the occupant. Consequently, such lack of air circulation can create extreme heat accumulation where the occupant's body contacts the chair causing excessive sweating. With an open foam material, the moisture build up can provide an environment for mould or bacteria to thrive.
Although the occupant may control the climate around them, the lack of airflow between the chair and the occupant's body prevents any kind of climate control in that area. Furthermore, in cold climates, the reverse happens wherein the area where the occupant's body contacts the chair does not allow for heat flow; thus, creating cold pockets preventing heating of that area of the body. Prior art has attempted to solve this ventilation problem.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,100,978, 6,840,576, and 6,629,724 to Ekem et al. disclose a portable ventilated seat assembly. The seat assembly consists of a porous material forming an upper surface layer, a non-porous first inner layer adjacent to the upper surface layer, a non-porous layer forming a lower surface-layer and an expanded space material between the non-porous layer. The assembly further consists of a fan coupled with the air space between the non-porous layers for ventilating the seat assembly. Although the invention is a porous structure with a self contained ventilation system, which may provide ventilation to the occupant, this ventilation is limited. The ventilation is limited by the fact that this assembly is portable and is to be placed on a traditional chair, which has minimal ventilation; thus, the problem remains wherein airflow is minimized between the chair and the seat assembly. Furthermore, the fan used in this assembly may be costly to maintain and repair, making this invention uneconomical.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,728 to Losio et al. discloses a bicycle seat, which comprises of an aperture that is connected to the anterior portion of the seat frame. The aperture is position in a direction of forward travel of the bicycle. Furthermore, the aperture is connected to an air distribution channel and also to a plurality of air discharge openings to ventilate the seat surface. Although this invention allows for ventilation of the seat, the ventilation is only directed to certain areas of the seat. The directional airflow is controlled by the aperture and the air distribution channel which is only located at the anterior of the seat; thus, ventilation only occurs at the anterior of the seat. Furthermore, this ventilated seat system is designed for a bicycle; thus, it only addresses ventilation problems for the seating area and does not address ventilation for the back rest area.
Another solution to solving the ventilation problem of a traditional chair is the process by which the materials of the chair are made. The use of foam as a material to make traditional chairs has been well documented due to its malleability and porous nature. However, problems of rigidity and durability have arisen when the foam is molded to form holes for air circulation. Due to the foam's soft, malleable nature, its rigidity is lost when ventilation holes are cut into the foam to increase its airflow nature; thus, limiting its ability to create an effective ventilated chair. The prior art has attempted to solve this problem in its different methods of producing the foam material.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0125780 to Shiina et al discloses a process for producing plastic foam composite. Specifically the invention relates to a foam composite with a skin that is formed “in one shot” by charging plastic powders or minute particles together with polyolefin pellets that can be cross-linked and foamed in a mold, and heating the mold while rotating. This composite absorbs almost no moisture, and has satisfactory strength. The process disclosed produces foam that is strong and rigid; however, the foam produced is not very porous and does not have uniformly shaped air holes, which allow for air circulation. Thus, the foam formed from this process is not ideal for use in making ventilated chairs.